The present invention generally relates to holders for safety razors. More particularly, this invention relates to a holder for safety razors that includes shave counting means to indicate when a razor blade should be replaced.
Continued use of a razor results in the razor blade becoming dull. A dull razor tends to nick the face and therefore it is desirable to change the blade in a safety razor before it becomes sufficiently dull to cause problems. The number of times that a razor blade can be used before becoming too dull for safe use varies with the brand of the razor and/or blade, and the skin of the particular user. Thus, the number of safe uses of a razor blade is personal to the individual. Though the number of safe uses of a razor blade can be determined through experience, maintaining in memory an accurate, ongoing count of the number of uses of a razor blade is difficult, if not impossible. Therefore, there is a need in the art for automatic shave counting means to indicate when a razor blade is too dull for safe use.
Various shave counting means have been disclosed in the prior art. These prior art shave counters are generally constructed having the shave counting means formed in the structure of the razor. This limits the user's choices to particular razors. However, a razor holder that includes shave counting means permits the use of a wide variety of razors and therefore is preferred.
An exemplary prior art razor including shave counting means is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,476,077 to Henkel wherein an indexing disk is disposed in the handle of the razor and is rotated by the user after each shave. U.S. Pat. No. 3,618,563 to Singer discloses a safety razor with shave counting means disposed in the razor handle that is likewise manually operated after each use. U.S. Pat. No. 4,112,271 to Marchetti discloses an electric shaver having counting means controlled by the operation of the shaver on/off switch. A razor guard that includes counting means is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,394,456 to Gatz wherein the counter is automatically advanced each time the guard is removed from the head of the razor.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,633,089 to Dorion et al. discloses a holder for battery-powered safety razors that includes battery charging means automatically activated upon placement of a razor in the holder.